Fate is Crazy
by PonyDroverHPT
Summary: Ponyboy's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and it starts a random chain of events good, bad, and spastic! Rated T just in case.
1. Weirder and Weirder

Chapter 1: Weirder and Weirder

_Fifty-nine, Fifty-eight, Fifty-seven …_

Less than a minute of class left, then my life as an adult away from college will begin.

_Thirty-two, Thirty-one…_

The professor has already given up on us.

_Ten, nine, eight…_

We waited with bated breath.

_Three, two, one…_RING!

Papers were thrown, people screamed, and I tried to get out of that classroom as quickly as possible. The only one that bothered to say good-bye to me was the professor. Everything from my dorm was already packed into my little car, so I headed straight there, revved the old engine, and left. Of course, I had to be back a week later for the graduation ceremony. If I had a choice, I wouldn't have returned, but the teachers said something about a "valedictorian speech" so I had no choice. I rolled down the window, opened a bottle of Pepsi, and smiled. _If this is life, then I'm good with it! _I messed with the radio until I found some Elvis. Just one question was left to me…_Where to now?_

Home? I haven't talked to either of my brothers for in over a year. Darry had taken over the roofing company and Soda was moving away. _Well, how about a trip down the East Coast? Yeah, that's it!_

Seven hours later, and I'm nowhere near a coast! And my gas meter is touching empty. _Uh-oh. I gotta go find a gas station._ I was completely surrounded by trees. _How did I get this lost? I took advance geography at Yale!_ (yeah, Yale. Full-ride!) Finally I got to a red-light!

"Hey!" I yelled at the guy stopped across the way, "Do you know where there's a gas station?"

"Yeah," he called back. He had one of those back-woods country accents, "go straight ¼ mile, then you'll hit Crazy S's Gas and Auto Repair!"

"Thanks!" Then my light turned green. I was lucky that it was just ¼ mile, because halfway there my tire blew. My day was getting worse and worse.

I somehow got to Crazy S's. It was an attractive little place, but it looked deserted. I got out of the car and walked to the door. It looked like a regular gas station: coolers of soda, snack foods, cigarettes, and maps. A closer look told me I was in Knoxville, Tennessee. _Yep, definitely lost._

"Hello?" I called into the deserted building, "I'm outta gas and my car popped a tire. I'm really lost. Hello?"

"I got you!" I heard coming from the back room. The door swung open, and out walked a man with dark hair, longer than mine, and a strong build. He couldn't have been three years older than me. His head was bent over his oily hands that he was cleaning with a rag.

He extended a hand as he raised his head. I had seen his face before. _Of course I had seen that face before. That face showed up on my doorstep everyday of my adolescence. Some days I could not stand that face._

"Steve?" I asked incredulously. He was still staring at me, trying to figure me out. Then it hit him.

"Ponyboy?!" Steve yelled, "This is insane!"

"Man I was completely lost and I stumbled across your ugly mug? How did I get so lucky" I teased.

He shook me off and gave me a playful shove. "You don't get it. This is like, a one-in-a-million chance. This is freaky."

"Agreed." I looked around the shop. "So, the Crazy S's. Your own place. That's pretty awesome."

"Wait. My own place? You're kidding, right? S's, like plural. I'm not by myself." He gave me a look like I was insane.

"What are you on about?" I looked at him. Then Steve busted out laughing. He was doubled-over from laughter. After a while, he straightened up and grabbed a Pepsi that he tossed to me swiftly (and somehow I caught it).

"So, empty tank and flat tire?" Steve asked me.

"Yeah. You can do that, right?" I asked hopefully.

"Of course. I'll go get my other guy on the gas pump and I'll go find that tire. You can come on out if you like." And he walked out the door. Draining my Pepsi, I walked after him. The auto-shop was even more impressive than the station. It had everything!

"So, how 'bout you, kid? How was college?" Steve said from under my car.

"Fine, I guess. Graduation's next week, and I'm the valedictorian. I give a speech, people clap, we get diplomas, and then I'm outta there for good."

"Don't you send out those cute little invites to graduations?" Steve asked me.

"What, announcements? Shoot, I don't know where everybody is now! Didn't this chance meeting tell you anything? I haven't talked to either of my brothers in over a year, Two-Bit's God-knows-where, and you're here, in God forsaken Tennessee!" I ended heatedly.

"Jeeze, kid, take it easy. I didn't mean anything. You still got that touchy mood!" He added with a grin.

"Well, when you go four straight years with just your textbooks, you keep things locked up," I said, taking the defensive.

Steve rolled himself out from under the car and looked me straight in the eye. "Ponyboy Michael Curtis. Do you mean to tell me that you have not _yet _had a _girl?!_" He almost looked like he was going into shock.

"Yeah." I said to my tennis shoes. It never really made sense to have one. Cramming five years of college into four didn't really give much time to other things. I didn't have a social life. I even requested not having a roommate (nightmares were still giving me trouble).

"Well," Steve started, getting up and dusting his hands off, "That tire's changed, and I tweaked the engine a little for ya. Now it's time to get her fueled up."

So, on whatever fumes were left, Steve drove my car to the tanks. I could hear the clanking of metal and the grunt of someone working coming from the other side of the pump.

"Wellup, Stevie. That last frost spell left the gas on the cold side. It's moving, but slowly." An unknown voice said. Steve plastered a grin on his face.

"Hey man, com here. I want you to meet the customer." Steve called in his direction, while keeping his eyes on me.

"Okay, let me just put this panel back on." The voice said again. There was the unmistakable turning of a wrench, then a little clanking of metal. I turned to look at the newcomer, only to drop my bottle and send glass shards everywhere.

There, standing in front of me, was the very last face I was expecting to see.

My brother, Sodapop Curtis.


	2. Soda Bubbles

**Ok I realized that my first chapter didn't have a disclaimer so here it is: I do not own, have not owned, and will not ever own any rights to the Outsiders. All of that belongs to S.E. Hinton (although I'm petitioning to borrow Darry on weekends!!!!) And thank you for my two reviews on my first ever chapter! I was completely giddy with excitement. So, here you go!**

Chapter 2: Soda Bubbles

"Pony?!" Soda exclaimed. He was so shocked that he dropped his wrench (on his foot) and began swearing up-and-down until he was tripping over himself. Steve by then had no more self-control, so he gave up and began rolling on the ground, laughing like a hyena.

"Some things haven't changed," I said.

Sodapop cocked an eyebrow at me and said, "Yeah like your size. Don't they feed you? Now where the hell is my hug from my brother?" Then I attacked him with a Ponyboy-Bear hug.

"So how'd you find us, Pony?" Soda asked me.

"I didn't. I was completely lost, then my tire got a flat and I was outta gas!" I explained.

"Well, we can fix that," Soda said, attaching the pipe nozzle to my car. Then Soda turned around and gave me a look-over.

"Pony, you've grown up. I just can't believe what I'm seeing," Soda said. Truly, I had gotten taller, my hair longer, and all of that baby look had finally vanished completely.

"Thanks Soda," I replied, "It's really good to see you again."

"Yeah. You too, little buddy. Ha, I bet no one's called you that in a long time!" Then Soda gasped. "Jesus Christ! Guess who's coming tomorrow!"

"Beats me, Soda," I concluded sarcastically. At this point, I was willing to believe that anything was possible.

"Darry!" Soda yelled.

"That's right! He got a week off and he's staying at our place for a while," Steve piped up from his spot against a pole. "Sorta like a 'celebration of summer' thing."

"So why don't you stay the night?" Soda offered. "You know Darry'd want to see you."

"Yeah, especially since you just graduated and everything." Steve said.

"I wouldn't want to put you out," I said.

"Shut up kid. You're staying and that's that," Steve responded forcefully. I spared a glance at Soda, who had a really weird look on his face.

"You graduated?" Soda asked quietly.

"College is over, if that's what you mean," I told him.

"But you graduated, and I didn't get to see it?" Now I understood. Soda felt hurt that he missed me graduating.

"The ceremony's next Friday. You didn't miss anything yet, Soda," I told him kindly.

"Good," he said, instantly perking up, "so I'll be there, no matter what. Now, do you want a cancer stick?" He asked, pulling one out of his shirt pocket.

"Yeah. Since when do you carry these around?" I asked him.

"Force of habit," Soda replied, tossing me a lighter. I swiftly lit up, and then I leaned against another pole. We stood there for a while, each of us lost in our own train of thought.

A few minutes later, I broke the silence. "So how'd you guys get here?"

"Two years ago, one of Steve's favorite cousins passed away, leaving Steve a house. He moved over here, saw the really old gas station for sale, and called me up. I had some money stored up, so I moved out here and we bought the station. Crazy S's has been here ever since." Soda told the story while giving the station a proud smile.

"Wow, I'm impressed," I told them.

"Thanks. So if you got all your stuff, the night-shift starts in five so you can follow us home," Steve offered. I piled into my car, waited for Steve and Soda to hand over the keys to three teenagers, and then I followed them to their home. It was a little place, painted light yellow with a white porch and a small fence in the front yard. It was two-story, and taller than it was wider. After rummaging through my many boxes, I found my small suitcase and bathroom stuff and left the car. For a while I stood outside, looking at the house.

"My Cousin Maggie's place. She was an old spinster. That's why the house is yellow," Steve explained.

"Nuff said," I said, following him and Soda inside. The inside looked much more like a couple of bachelors lived there. None of the furniture matched, there was a bean-bag chair in the far corner and everywhere you looked you could see a stray sock or an empty bottle of Pepsi.

"Now," Soda started, hanging his hat on an empty coat rack, "Pick the smaller of the two bedrooms upstairs. You and Darry will share a bathroom, and we're not leaving the house tomorrow until noon, so we will be here when you wake up. 'Night, little buddy," Soda said, ruffling my hair. I scowled at him and he chuckled.

"'Night, Soda. Goodnight Steve!" I called to Steve.

"'Night Pony," came his muffled reply. I trudged up the stairs, changed into a nightshirt, and crawled into bed. I looked at the room and smiled. For once in my life, my life was good.

**Hey thanks again for reading my story. I don't really know how much time I'll be able to update, because I've been sick and I have a ton of make-up work. To answer one of the reviews, I played up the brainier side of Ponyboy because I really, **_**really**_** didn't want to go into past relationships with original characters. Original Characters are my number 1 pet peeve. Thanks for reading and reviewing!!!! :-D **


	3. A Very Darry Day

**I'm sssssooooooooooo sorry that I haven't updated this story in forever. If anyone cares, my Fall Semester is over and I have straight A's (Including a 98 in Honors World Literature, sorry I just had to brag on myself). This has been my favorite chapter to write so far, and this story, along with my other stories, will be updated. Shoot, I may even write a few One-Shots, depending on my mood.**

**So without further ado, here is chapter 3. See you on the flip side! (And I don't own anything! Y'all should know that by now!"**

Chapter 3: A Very Darry Day (Pony POV)

Somehow, I woke up with a coughing fit. I thought I gasped too quickly from a dream or something and that started it. Well, whatever. I looked on the clock and it told me that it was quarter to seven (that's A.M.). Obviously no one else was up yet, so I threw a t-shirt on and put the remainder of my clothes away. By the time I was finished with that, I heard the refrigerator door open, so someone had to be up. Either that or a thief was hungry. I threw on a pair of flip-flops and descended the staircase.

"Morning Pony," Soda called, his head completely covered by the door to the fridge.

"Hey Sodapop. I'll make breakfast, okay? What do you want?" I asked him back, trying through my tired brain to become acquainted with the kitchen.

"Oh, the usual, my fun little short-order cook!" Soda was obviously the same spunky person he always was.

"Soda, I know you're a shining star in a dreary world, but do you have to shine so bright in the mornings?" I asked him, feeling a little grumpy and wishing I had gotten more sleep.

"Bah Humbug, Pony. Oh and by the way, Steve likes just scrambled eggs and chocolate cake," Soda told me. He got the cake from out of the breadbox while I started making eggs in the skillet.

"Hey, Soda, what happened to Two-Bit?" Thoughts of my old friend had stumped me this morning.

"He and his sister went to live in an aunt's house in Chicago. He wanted his sister to grow up away from Tulsa gangs, but he soon found out there are gangs everywhere. Thankfully it's not in the heart of Chicago."

"Awesome," I replied lamely. Two-Bit and Evelyn deserved as much, but it made me kinda sad to think that I could have known that if I kept in touch. I put Soda's eggs on the plate and added some jelly while Steve busted in, grabbing the skillet and spatula from my hands and eating the scalding eggs straight from the pan.

"So when is Darry getting here?" I continued.

"Well, he was supposed to leave yesterday afternoon, so about an hour." Soda informed me. The three of us ate in silence while the minutes ticked away. Finally I decided to go take a shower.

Darry POV (**I know, I'm changing point of view. Yay!!!)**

I was pretty excited about this vacation. My rear-end was getting very sore, mind you, but it was worth it. Following their directions precisely, I showed up sooner than I expected at Steve and Soda's. Unexpectedly, there was another car out front of their house. _Maybe a friend stopped by_ I thought. I parked on the street in front of their house. I grabbed my things then proceeded to knock on the door.

"It's open!" Someone said from inside. I walked in to see Steve and Soda chasing each other with the dish towels.

"Some things never change," I mumbled to myself. Soda and Steve chuckled. _Knuckleheads_.

"So, whose car is that outside?"

"Hold that thought!" Soda nearly yelled at me. There was a clanking of pipes coming from the next room followed by feet going up the stairs… (**A/N: Sorry this POV was short, but this is a Ponyboy story)**

Pony POV

I still had soap in my hair. Then the bathroom door opened just as the shower water turned off.

"What the…?" I started, but Sodapop interrupted me.

"Ha ha Ponyboy I turned the water off!" Soda yelled. I hopped out of the shower, wrapped myself in a towel, and proceeded to chase my brother down the stairs.

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis, I'm going to kill you!" I screamed, running down the stairs and hitting a wall. _Wait a second, there wasn't a wall there._ I looked up, and found the wall laughing at me. Darry had joined our little party.

"Hey Darry!" I said nonchalantly, like I didn't just run into my oldest brother wearing only a towel. Of course my strong brother reached down with one arm and picked me up off the ground. In the other arm he crushed me into a big hug.

"Hey Pone. How're you? Shouldn't you still be in New York?" Darry said, his eyes bearing straight into my forehead as if trying to read my mind (it wasn't anything unusual."

"I'm good. It's Summer Break, so I don't have to be at school right now. It was a complete accident that I showed up here. I'm sure Steve and Soda could tell you about it after they _turn the water back on!"_ I yelled the last words in the direction that I had last heard snickering. There was another sound of clanking pipes, so I went to the kitchen sink, grabbed the rinsing hose, and washed the rest of the soap out of my hair. When I finished, I spotted Darry in the hallway, still staring at me with a half-amused smirk on his face.

"Hold your thoughts," I told him quickly as I dashed up the stairs to get dressed. I picked out a pair of jeans and a dark purple t-shirt. I combed back my hair, massaged some grease into it, and joined the rest of the household in the sitting room. Steve and Soda had deemed the living room a safe-zone again, so they were lounging in two different chairs while Darry was sitting on the couch.

"That is a really weird story," Darry agreed. I guessed that Soda and Steve had just finished telling him the tale of my arrival while I was getting dressed. I pulled out a cigarette, lit up, and found myself a spot on the wall to lean on.

"So you're still smoking, Pony?" Darry asked disapprovingly, a frown on his face. I grinned a reply to him.

"Long and strong, Dar. Have you found a girl yet?" I retorted.

"I've dated around some, but nothing's stuck yet." He shrugged his shoulders.

"How about you guys?" I asked, turning to Steve and Sodapop.

"I've got a nice girl, her name's Alice," Steve said. Soda remained silent, and I instantly felt guilty about asking. I decided to change the subject.

"So Darry, how's…" I was about to ask him how his work was going, but I was interrupted by a small, albeit familiar voice.

"Sandy called," Soda said quietly. My jaw dropped, and when I looked over, Darry's mouth was hanging open too. But unlike me and my uncontrollable facial muscles, Darry's mouth closed and a scowl replaced it.

"And what did that tramp want?" Darry growled slow and deliberately through his teeth.

Soda's eyebrows knitted together, and he slouched in his seat some, almost like he was protecting himself. "She called to say hello," Sodapop said, but under the hard look he was getting from Darry, he said more. "Her grandmother died, and she was left a house. She wanted me to move in."

If my jaw could have dropped any lower, then it did by about five minutes. I don't think I was capable of any speech. The silence that filled the cramped room was so thick that it was suffocating.

"And?" Darry said finally, "What did you say?"

**Ooh, a cliff-hanger. Aren't I full of surprises? I love getting reviews, so please don't hesitate to. Hey I just found out that some people don't like OOC, but I kinda like it as long as it's believable. So I'll go ahead and warn you that my characters will be on the OOC side.**

**I love you all!!! See you next chapter!**


	4. The Heart Wants, Then Again The Heart Li

**Hello again, everyone!!! Guess what…I GOT MY HAIR COLORED!!! Sorry, I just had to tell someone. So anyway, while I was getting my foils in, I was planning past what I've written already, and I've realized that this story is going to take a more solemn and serious turn, so all of you looking for happy stuff, then I'm sorry to disappoint. I will have a few rays of "sunlight" but the story will mostly be dark and grey.**

**Remember, I love the fact that people read, and I DON'T OWN THE OUTSIDERS!! C U on da flipside! **

**Chapter 4: The Heart Wants, Then Again The Heart Lies**

Soda stayed silent. He continued to stare at the floor, looking completely lost. I took a seat next to him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sodapop, what did you say?" I asked him quietly.

"I said no," I felt my tense shoulders relax. Darry let out a sigh of relief. Steve, who all the while had sat silently, excused himself to go to the bathroom. Darry took the seat on the now vacant side of Soda.

"But you wanted to go, right?" Darry asked.

Soda nodded his head. "I really wanted to go, but somehow I knew that if I went, I would make the worst mistake of my life."

"Well, the heart wants, then again the heart lies," I said in barely more than a whisper. Both my brothers turned to look at me, their eyes wide.

"Where did that come from? That is exactly what I meant," Sodapop said to me.

"I wrote a poem this year for creative writing. It sort of fit the context."

"And you're exactly right," Soda said, putting more energy into his voice and jumping up from the couch. "Enough with this depressing stuff. Pony, go upstairs and show Darry his room. I'll go finish the dishes."

I grabbed the smaller of the two bags Darry had brought inside and lead the way up the stairs. I pointed out to him the bathroom, "my" room, and then his. I plopped Darry's bag down with a grunt, while he began getting his things in drawers.

"So Pony," Darry started. As always, he seemed a little awkward talking to me, "you're finally out of school."

"Yep," I said kinda lamely, "I'm all done."

Darry's eyes opened wide. "I didn't miss graduation, did I?"

Seeing my brother worried like this made me smile, just a little. "No Darry. It's Friday night," I said, "Soda's coming and you can too if you want."

Now it was my turn to feel awkward. Half of me felt that Darry wouldn't want to come, but the other half was saying that it would be polite to invite him.

When I looked up, I saw my bigger brother smiling. It was kinda unsettling seeing him smile, for any lines on his face were from previous stresses and frowns.

"Pony," he spoke kindly, "I wouldn't miss it for the world. I may have been the first Curtis to go to college, but you're the first to graduate! I couldn't be prouder," and with that he gave me a hug. "And Mom and Dad couldn't be either."

Now I would be the first to admit it. Over the years, Darry had become a lot softer. It probably had to do with the fact that as I got older, I started using my head more and I really began to appreciate everything my brother did for me. We saw eye-to-eye now (and I mean that figuratively because he's still a head and shoulders taller than me) and I think it made him softer.

But he usually wasn't _this_ emotional. To tell the truth, it kind of unsettled me.

"Thank you, Darry. And what's with all the emotion?" I said, wriggling out of his hug and giving him a playful punch on the arm. "Are you going soft?"

Darry just rolled his eyes. "Is being mouthy something you're inflicted with? 'Cause you're still as bad as you were when you were younger."

"And I bet you're just as slow," I retorted, wagging my eyebrows. Darry shot a playful glare at me and before I knew it, I was running for dear life down the steep stairwell.

I realized that one thing I hadn't given up with maturing was my lack of coordination. I drew a lot of laughs as I tumbled on the lip of the carpet edge. Two pairs of hands grabbed my arms as both of my brothers hoisted me to my feet.

"Thanks," I muttered, slightly embarrassed.

As I watched them go to their predestined places in the small living room, I let a smile play on my face. While Darry grabbed the newspaper, and Soda and Steve began a card game, I wished with my whole being that life would stay like this: happy, fun, carefree, and well, _perfect._

**So yeah, this was a happy filler chapter. There may be a couple more of those, but I promise that soon enough there will be a drastic plot line, so readers, PREPARE YOURSELVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**K~A~W**


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